Letters to the Editor: Law professor: Alabama embryo ruling leaves no doubt that we’re becoming a theocracy
To the editor: I am a law professor. This week in class, while discussing the Alabama Supreme Court’s frozen embryo decision, this exchange transpired:
I displayed the words of Alabama’s chief justice on the screen. He wrote that the frozen embryos are children and that their destruction would incur “the wrath of a holy God.”
I told my students that I am a Jew and do not believe this. I shared that when I had a miscarriage and went to my rabbi for solace, he said there was no prayer for miscarriages. For us as Jews, the rabbi said, life begins at the first breath. He encouraged me to write my own prayer.
A student born in a foreign country raised his hand and said that Alabama was imposing a Christian form of government on its residents, so isn’t that a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s 1st Amendment ban against establishing a religion?
Yes, I responded. I also said that since the 2022 reversal of Roe vs. Wade (the first time a fundamental constitutional right has been “un-fundamentalized”), America has become a theocracy. State by state, a new Mason-Dixon line is taking shape, and on one side of the line, government officials are imposing their religious beliefs on us.
In 1802, Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase “separation between church and state” in a letter to Baptists in Connecticut to assure them that America would never establish a religion and interfere in matters of worship. Today, he is surely rolling in his grave.
Julie A. Werner-Simon, Philadelphia
The writer, a former federal prosecutor, teaches law at Drexel University in Philadelphia and USC.
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To the editor: The Alabama Supreme Court’s frozen-embryos ruling should come as no surprise — not where Alabama state law criminalizes abortion, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
I have spoken with people who oppose aborting any rape-caused pregnancy. They reliably spout a faith-based justification: that the pregnancy wasn’t the fault of the unborn child, and it was part of God’s plan.
I fear that we are coming ever closer to an existential crossroad: Will our nation opt for governance as a democracy or as a theocracy?
History tells us, as it told our founding fathers, that the latter option doesn’t work out very well.
Glenda Martel, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Hey, Alabamans, if you have to live with this over-the-top definition of “children,” use it to your advantage.
The parents of every embryonic “child” can declare a yearly tax deduction. Imagine, every year you get a tax break without ever having to pay for braces, school, food and clothing for your little tot.
Also, don’t forget the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year. Think of the home-improvement projects you could accomplish, or the chance to take classes to better your employment future or take that getaway vacation you never had time for.
This is a perfect example of when life throws you a lemon, make lemonade.
Jill Chapin, Santa Monica
